Soldier Travis King’s mother has claimed he is innocent and that the Army forced him to sign an agreement never to reveal why he entered North Korea or say anything about his time there.
King, 23, is being arrested in El Paso, Texas, after North Korea extradited him to the United States last month following his desertion in July and was charged with desertion, assault on comrades and incitement to commit child pornography.
His mother, Claudine Gates, shared details of her reunion with King two weeks ago, saying he was physically fine but seemed “very sleepy and tired” – and his time in North Korea and why he went there remains a mystery.
“He said he couldn’t tell us what happened [in North Korea]. “He told me that the army told him not to tell anyone that he had signed an agreement with them,” the mother told ABC News.
Gates said she and her family plan to fight the allegations against the Army private “to the end.”
King, 23, is being held in Texas after North Korea extradited him to the United States last month following his suspected desertion in July
His mother, Claudine Gates, shared details of her reunion with King two weeks ago, saying he was physically fine but seemed “very sleepy and tired.”
She and her husband Dan Jovanovic insisted the allegations against Travis, who spent more than 70 days in the totalitarian country, were inconsistent with the “peaceful person” they knew before he was deployed to South Korea.
Travis is accused of requesting an indecent photo from a Snapchat user. Gates and Jovanovic claimed King lost his phone in South Korea and someone was able to access his social media account.
“If all these devices are accessible or lying around and everything, God knows how that manifested itself there,” the stepfather said.
“The actions the Army says he’s doing are not Travis.” He’s not like that. “He’s a good boy,” Gates said, adding that she suffered a nervous breakdown while her son was held in the Hermit Kingdom.
King crossed the Demilitarized Zone into North Korea on the day he was scheduled to return from deployment, where he spent more than 40 days in detention accused of attacking fellow soldiers.
The mother and stepfather said they did not believe the allegations against King, who is accused of engaging in fights under the influence of alcohol, and claimed the soldier didn’t even drink at home.
“Something must have happened to set him off. He didn’t even scream or get angry, he didn’t even step on an ant,” King’s stepfather said.
Gates said, “I still feel like something happened to me, and he’s the only one who can say what happened.”
She and Jovanovic also claimed the army failed to provide answers.
Gates has previously said that the allegations against her son do not match what she knows.
“The man I raised, the man I dropped off at boot camp, the man who spent the holidays with me before I deployed, didn’t drink,” she told CBS News. “A mother knows her son, and I think something happened to mine during his deployment.”
She and her husband Dan Jovanovic insisted the allegations against Travis, who spent over 70 days in the totalitarian country, were inconsistent with the “peaceful person” they knew
U.S. Army Private 2nd Class Travis King, circled, is pictured during a tour just before his jump across the border into North Korea
King appears calm, wearing casual clothing, and is photographed arriving in America after being expelled from North Korea
Desertion is a serious charge punishable by a prison sentence of three years.
King is also accused of kicking and punching other officers, unlawfully drinking alcohol, making a false statement and possessing a video of a child engaging in sexual activity last year, according to the AP.
That claim comes from July 10, the day he was released from a South Korean prison where he had served nearly two months on assault charges.
A week later, King crossed South Korea’s heavily fortified border and became the first American imprisoned in North Korea in nearly five years.
He was scheduled to be sent to Fort Bliss, Texas, where he could face further disciplinary action and discharge.
Officials said King was taken to the airport and escorted through customs. But instead of boarding the plane, he left the plane and later took part in a civilian tour of the Korean border village of Panmunjom.
He ran in the afternoon across the border, which is lined with guards and often crowded with tourists.
After about two months, Pyongyang suddenly announced its expulsion. He was flown to an air force base in Texas on September 28th.
His release from North Korea was assisted by Swedish officials, who took King to the Chinese border, where he was met by U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, the Swedish ambassador to China and at least one U.S. Defense Department official. He was then flown to a US military base in South Korea before traveling to the US
Back in the United States, King was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston outside San Antonio.
He went through a process the military called “reintegration,” which included medical exams, psychological evaluations and debriefings. And he was also allowed to meet with the family.
At the time, officials said they didn’t know exactly why North Korea decided to let King go, but suspected that Pyongyang determined that as a low-ranking soldier he had no real value, either in terms of influence or information.
King, who joined the army in January 2021, had faced two assault charges in South Korea. According to court documents, he pleaded guilty to assault and destruction of public property for damaging a police car during a tirade against Koreans.
Instead of paying a fine, King opted to spend more than a month in South Korean custody.
If the Army declared King a deserter, it would have to conclude that King had left and intended to stay away permanently. In times of war, desertion can be punished with the death penalty.
Military personnel can remain without permission for several days, but can also return voluntarily.
The punishment can include prison time, forfeiture of pay, or dishonorable discharge, and depends largely on how long they were away and whether they were arrested or returned on their own recognizance.
The charging document does not provide significant details about the allegations, although it does accuse King of knowingly possessing a video of a child engaging in sexual conduct on July 10 and soliciting a user of Snapchat, a social media platform Produce images of sexual activity by minors.
King’s family has hired a legal team in his defense that includes Franklin Rosenblatt, who served as lead military defense attorney during the court-martial of Bowe Bergdahl, family spokesman Jonathan Franks said in a statement.
Bergdahl was an Army sergeant who was held by the Taliban for five years after leaving his post in Afghanistan in 2009.